Texas: It's The Future

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Texas: It's the Future
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 Siren.Inuyushi
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By Siren.Inuyushi 2011-06-15 09:58:53
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Haters keep on hating.... but this report begs to differ. Enjoy

Quote:
So what example should America follow, that of deficit-slaughtering, budget-cutting, seriously limited government in Texas, which has added 730,000 jobs in the past decade, or that of regulation-happy, spend-mercilessly, owe-everything, flee-this-place-quickly California, which has lost 600,000 jobs during the same period?

While not a hard question in a nation where unemployment recently shot up over 9 percent again and is dramatically expanding its unfunded entitlement promises on top of its accumulating debt, let's continue to look at some astounding facts about Texas after noting a much-repeated analysis of how it got there.

It has no state income tax, low corporate taxes, does just enough regulating to get the job done, cares for the environment without making a fetish of it, lets its legislature meet for a relatively short period just once every two years, keeps the executive branch slim and trim and is a right-to-work state where unions don't get to grab dues through governmental coercion.

Businesses love all that, varied researchers tell us. A number point out that, in 2008, Texas accounted for fully 70 percent of all new jobs created in America, and if you think that's great, which it is, don't suppose this was a one-shot deal. Businesses are reported to rate Texas the single best state in which to operate. Give them a chance and many will pull up stakes from yonder plunder-and-abuse venue and follow the Lone Star to high profits, sharing prosperity and opportunity as they resettle.

Meanwhile, what glitters is definitely not the Golden State. California is faced with a $26 billion deficit, cripples businesses with unconscionable taxes and rules, has dreamt up environmental objectives that in effect are combat tactics against the common good and is faced with a cost of living that is only part of the reason why citizens are deserting the place like the hordes that once upon a time rushed to enjoy its splendor.

Recently, even Governor Jerry Brown described his state as "fantasy land," and he wasn't talking about movies issuing from Hollywood. He was talking about the sort of thing various publications have documented -- The Washington Examiner, The Weekly Standard, The Economist, The National Review, Newsweek and more -- such as the second highest personal state income tax in the country and public employee pensions there is no way to honor.

There are liberals who hate the mention of any of this, especially when conservatives point out how the two states are so much alike in population and demographic mix, and to be sure, there are some non-political factors at play. The liberals vastly overreached, though, with some making a major point earlier this year about how Texas was faced with a budget it couldn't handle and others bemoaning a service deficit.

Texas, with a vastly increasing inflow population that makes it even tougher to deal with employment and governmental growth, has nevertheless been fighting back successfully against budgetary expansion, using some gimmicks but mainly necessary program reductions to keep taxes down to a level instigating entrepreneurship. Services there are hardly in as much jeopardy as in California, whose overcrowded prisons the Supreme Court refuses to tolerate, and nothing helps the poor like jobs. Texas does not shine in public education, but outdoes California in national testing, it's reported.

The Texas example is basically the way America has to go, the way Republicans in the House of Representatives insist we go, and the way too many Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama resist, their clear preference being the California model of spend yourself into misery, soak-the-upper-middle-class and businesses with tax hikes, tie the businesses up with so many regulations they can't compete anymore and offer no remedy but mush and demagoguery on anything truly serious in scope.

It won't work in part because, as a new USA Today report shows, the government's entitlement pledges (mainly to Medicare and Social Security) grew so much last year that they now exceed anticipated revenues by $61.6 trillion, or $534,000 per household. Does anyone actually believe that, even if some tax increases done through reform might help, we can tax our way out of this?

Source
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 Ragnarok.Ashman
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By Ragnarok.Ashman 2011-06-15 10:05:33
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 Cerberus.Kalyna
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By Cerberus.Kalyna 2011-06-15 10:11:32
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http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm
Yeah, Texas Vs California, Texas would win.

But look at that North Dakota!

Texas definitely is not the future.
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By zahrah 2011-06-15 10:12:15
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Ragnarok.Ashman said:

Hush, you! Now for some reading.
 Ragnarok.Hevans
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By Ragnarok.Hevans 2011-06-15 10:15:29
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Cerberus.Kalyna said:
http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm
Yeah, Texas Vs California, Texas would win.

But look at that North Dakota!

Texas definitely is not the future.



There's different measures of what makes a state a good state.
 Cerberus.Kalyna
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By Cerberus.Kalyna 2011-06-15 10:17:56
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North Dakota ranking is 10

Texas is 14

North Dakota still wins vs Texas -D
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 Ragnarok.Hevans
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By Ragnarok.Hevans 2011-06-15 10:18:53
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north dakota isn't even a state =/
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 Sylph.Spency
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By Sylph.Spency 2011-06-15 10:19:09
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There are many factors. Quoting different biased articles isn't going to help much.
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 Cerberus.Kalyna
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By Cerberus.Kalyna 2011-06-15 10:22:09
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We all know that Ottawa is the best state to live in!
 Ragnarok.Hevans
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By Ragnarok.Hevans 2011-06-15 10:22:28
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Viva le Quebec!
 Odin.Liela
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By Odin.Liela 2011-06-15 10:25:23
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Clearly none of you have been to Idaho, which is undoubtedly the best state in the history of EVER! Mwahahaha!
 Siren.Inuyushi
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By Siren.Inuyushi 2011-06-15 10:29:14
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I know one thing, Maryland sucks. I miss my Texas though for sure.

Off Topic: Singapore is good too, as long as you don't mind losing some freedoms... chewing gum anyone?
 Cerberus.Kalyna
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By Cerberus.Kalyna 2011-06-15 10:29:19
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What's this Idaho you speak of?

I thought that was just the company who gives me my potatoes!
 Odin.Liela
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By Odin.Liela 2011-06-15 10:30:20
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You give me back those potatoes!
 Ramuh.Vinvv
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By Ramuh.Vinvv 2011-06-15 10:31:57
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Odin.Liela said:
You give me back those potatoes!
<Obligatory image of Samwise Gamgee played by Sean Astinn speaking on po tay toes>
 Ragnarok.Hevans
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By Ragnarok.Hevans 2011-06-15 10:32:57
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boil em?
mash em?
put em in a stew

po ta toes
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 Bahamut.Josseppi
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By Bahamut.Josseppi 2011-06-15 10:34:08
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I prefer the state of Inebriation. Its a fun state to live in and you can be there almost anywhere you are physically located in this country. I highly recommend you all visit. If you have trouble finding it you may have reached the state of Confusion. Don't panic or you may end up in the state of Emergency. :p
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 Ifrit.Daemun
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By Ifrit.Daemun 2011-06-15 10:36:04
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Sad part is, us Texans have known we are the future to Americas' survival for many, many years.
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 Ramuh.Vinvv
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By Ramuh.Vinvv 2011-06-15 10:36:45
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Bahamut.Josseppi said:
I prefer the state of Inebriation. Its a fun state to live in and you can be there almost anywhere you are physically located in this country. I highly recommend you all visit. If you have trouble finding it you may have reached the state of Confusion. Don't panic or you may end up in the state of Emergency. :p
I personally don't like the state of inebriation.
I prefer being sober but opiated.
 Shiva.Durtiesweat
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By Shiva.Durtiesweat 2011-06-15 10:37:38
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I really like Texan Education system. The Hardest thing to get used to in texas for me was the fact that Its a US state, not Mexico with an american zip code. In El Paso every time I went to walmart they spoke Spanish on the intercom... Every time.
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 Phoenix.Sehachan
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By Phoenix.Sehachan 2011-06-15 10:40:35
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Texas sure is a recurring topic! As an italian I only know it for accent, cows and guns, not sure what's more about it! But people love to talk about it, it seems.
 Fenrir.Emirii
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By Fenrir.Emirii 2011-06-15 10:40:57
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Just in Corpus Christi TX alone (where I'm from) they are cutting out the dead weights and reducing departments within the city to cut the deficit. Its ideas like these that will work (and obviously are working) that other cities/states should take due note of. All around Texas people are following this trend, which probably helps greatly. There has been more growth in this city over the past 5 years with a new manager/mayor than I have seen in my whole 21, it's amazing.

The only thing I don't agree on what Texas is doing currently is cutting education another 6 billion dollars, which is pretty lame seeing as I went through a pretty ghetto high school (and even that was in the "good" area of town) so it is going to affect a lot of kids pretty hard...
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 Siren.Inuyushi
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By Siren.Inuyushi 2011-06-15 10:49:21
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Yea, Texas had to lay off a good portion of new teachers (according to my mom who's a teacher). Anyone with less than 3 years of experience had to be let go of due to budget. I don't make the rules but that was shocking to hear. The school systems may not be the best but we test well!
 Fenrir.Emirii
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By Fenrir.Emirii 2011-06-15 10:52:21
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Yes a lot of people got laid off not based on their academic success but by seniority... And some people were asked to resign or be faced with being fired which is pretty sad... The only reason why Texas does so well on standardize testing is that it is required to pass that grade year or be held back, and the curriculum of the whole year is based around passing the standardized test (multiple choice). I know in other states like California the standardized test is "skip day" to them. lol
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By zahrah 2011-06-15 10:53:20
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Phoenix.Sehachan said:
Texas sure is a recurring topic! As an italian I only know it for accent, cows and guns, not sure what's more about it! But people love to talk about it, it seems.

For you, dear. I made this for another thread that popped up here.



Anyway, I know in Austin we've had an influx of Californians moving here, especially after 2008 when the economy took a nose dive.

Yeah...That guy who flew his plane into the IRS building here was from California.

The BF's company managed his HOA. The guy also torched his house that morning. He drove his business in Cali into the ground then came to Texas to regroup. He ended up failing again, and defaulted on his mortgage. He owed thousands of dollars just in HOA fees alone. I'm not sure if that made international or even national news.
 Siren.Inuyushi
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By Siren.Inuyushi 2011-06-15 10:57:00
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I take insult to the 'Ummm, field part' of that picture! Tons of good wind farms up there supplying tons of energy now. And Texas Tech Univserity is in Lubbock Texas ;-;

I mean, we did stop UT from going to the #1 vs #2 game that year when a defense player from UT let a ball fall right through his arms =D
 Ifrit.Daemun
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By Ifrit.Daemun 2011-06-15 10:57:07
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zahrah said:


Yeah...That guy who flew his plane into the IRS building here was from California.

The BF's company managed his HOA. The guy also torched his house that morning. He drove his business in Cali into the ground then came to Texas to regroup. He ended up failing again, and defaulted on his mortgage. He owed thousands of dollars just in HOA fees alone. I'm not sure if that made international or even national news.
I didn't even hear about it...five hours away.
 Ragnarok.Hevans
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By Ragnarok.Hevans 2011-06-15 10:57:25
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it made national headlines, but it was quickly moved to page ten after some celeb did something stupid.
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By Ifrit.Daemun 2011-06-15 10:57:57
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Siren.Inuyushi said:
I take insult to the 'Ummm, field part' of that picture! Tons of good wind farms up there supplying tons of energy now. And Texas Tech Univserity is in Lubbock Texas ;-;

I mean, we did stop UT from going to the #1 vs #2 game that year when a defense player from UT let a ball fall right through his arms =D
Eh, I live in that part...It's true.
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By Bismarck.Elanabelle 2011-06-15 10:59:02
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Siren.Inuyushi said:
Haters keep on hating.... but this report begs to differ. Enjoy

Horribly biased article. Even the zaniest of conservative pundits would (maybe) be able to gather that.

Yes, Texas offers significant incentives for businesses to "set up shop" on its soil. Your state would too if 50% of said soil (and Texas is a BIG place) was classified as arid (desert) or semiarid (desert-like).

A lot of the statistics cited in the OP article are heavily-weighted by the petroleum industry in Texas. When an economy falters, it's always raw materials and commodities that tend to suffer the least. Petroleum is the life-blood of the modern industrialized economy, so it's really not shocking that Texas has endured the depression fairly well when compared to California, where the real estate and construction industries (which were extremely profitable in California pre-recession) were totally flattened by the "housing bubble burst". The oil industry has been in a boom-bust-boom cycle for decades in Texas. Just because it's in a "boom" phase coincidental with the nationwide depression does NOT mean Texas is "superior" to other parts of the country.

Lastly, it needs to be said that while Texas offers the transparent luxury of zero income taxes, please remember that Texas has a very high property tax rate. A Texan pays 4.5 times as much in annual property taxes (per $100k of property value) when compared to a Californian.

I don't (personally) care for Texas or California. Neither is "the way of the future". Both state cultures and economies are unsustainable long-term. California needs to be more conservative, and Texas needs to be more liberal.

Here's a (far) more balanced "snapshot" of the two State economies than the rubbish offered by the OP's quote:

Quote:
California v. Texas: The economy

Where Texas beats California

  • Lower median home: $148,000 vs. $297,000

  • Lower income tax rate: 0% vs. 9.3% avg.

  • Lower jobless rate: 8% vs. 12.4%



Where California beats Texas

  • Bigger paychecks: $51,566 vs. $45,692

  • Lower real estate taxes: $477 vs. $1,817 per $100,000 (2005)

  • Stronger per capita GDP growth: 3.0% vs. 1.6% before recession, 1997-2007; tied at -4.1% during recession

  • Lower average tax burden for businesses: 4.7% vs. 4.9%. (The lower average tax rate is partly because California's "effective" tax rate - the percentage of tax that actually gets paid - is much lower than its "marginal" or official tax rate, especially for large businesses within the state.)

  • More college graduates: 29.6% vs. 22.9%



Sources: UCLA Anderson Forecast, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Census Bureau, California Association of Realtors, Texas Association of Realtors, Council on State Taxation.
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